wretched
Syllables: wretch·edUK/ˈɹɛt͡ʃɪd//ˈɹɛt͡ʃəd/
wretched adjective: characterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable.
Adjective
wretched (comparative more wretched, superlative most wretched)
- Characterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable.
- I felt wretched after my wife died.
- Oh (men forlorne) how wretched is our ſtate, / Whome heaven and earth oppreſſe with heapes of hate!1576, George Whetstone, “The Arbour of Vertue, […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, […], London: […] [H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of...
- Synonyms:
- dejected, wretchful, atrabiliary, atrabilious, deplorable, depressing, distressing, grievous, heartbreaking, heartrending
- Of an inferior or unworthy nature or social status; contemptible, lowly.
- The street was full of wretched beggars dressed in rags.
- I had been here ſooner, but that, vvretched man that I am! I ſlept in the Arbour that ſtands on the Hillſide; nay, I had notvvithſtanding that, been here much ſooner, but that in my ſleep I loſt my Evidence, and came vvithout it to the brovv of the Hill; and then feeling for it, and finding it not...1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 51
- Of an insignificant, mean, or poor nature; miserable, paltry, worthless.
- I just lack the fine motor skill. Same reason I'm a grown man who doesn't know how to use a screwdriver without looking like a retard. Oh, I'm wretched.
- All those wretched quarrels, in his humble opinion, stirring up bad blood – bump of combativeness or gland of some kind, erroneously supposed to be about a punctilio of honour and a flag, – were very largely a question of the money question which was at the back of everything, greed and jealousy...1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 598
- Synonyms:
- trifling, base, contemptible, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, foolish, for the birds, futile, frivolous, idle, ignorable
- Of a person, etc.: behaving in a manner causing contempt; base, despicable, wicked.
- But a Devil came in juſt in the God-ſpeed, and told them; Gentlemen Philoſophers, (ſays he) if you vvould knovv the VVretched'ſt, and moſt contemptible thing in the VVorld; It is an Alchymiſt: […]1667, Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, “The Sixth Vision of Hell”, in R[oger] L[’Estrange], transl., The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, […], London: […] H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC...
- A Heretic may see the truth and seek redemption. He may be forgiven his past and will be absolved in death. A Traitor can never be forgiven. A Traitor will never find peace in this world or the next. There is nothing as wretched or as hated in all the world as a Traitor.1993, Rick Priestley, Andy Chambers, Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook, Second edition, Games Workshop, page 22
- Synonyms:
- abject, filthy, base, beggarly, blameworthy, carrion, cheap, choical, contemptible, cringing
- Of weather: causing much discomfort; very unpleasant; miserable.
- Used to express annoyance towards or dislike of someone or something: bloody, damned.
- Will you please stop playing that wretched trombone!
wretched meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
wretched in Hindi
- characterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable
- अभागा abhāgā, निगोड़ा nigoṛā, कमबख़्त kambaxt, दीन dīn, दुख का मारा dukh kā mārā, बेहाल behāl
wretched in Urdu
- آفت زدہ, بدحال, حقیر, کمبخت, خراب, خوار
wretched in Malayalam
- ദയനീയ, അത്യധികം കഷ്ടപ്പെട്ട, നികൃഷ്ടമായ, പീഡിതമായ
wretched in Kannada
- ಅತಿದರಿದ್ರ, ದುರದೃಷ್ಟದ, ನಿರ್ಭಾಗ್ಯನಾದ, ದುಃಖಿಯಾದ, ಕರುಣಾಜನಕ, ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಬಾರದ
More languagesFewer languages
- wretched in Punjabi
- تتڑی tattṛī
- wretched in Odia
- ଦୁର୍ଦ୍ଦାନ୍ତ
- wretched in Sanskrit
- दीन dīna
- wretched in Indonesian
- laknat
Examples of wretched in a sentence
- As for me, I felt wretched and helpless, in the darkness, surrounded with angry waves, whose noise deafened me.1918, Maxim Gorky, “My Fellow-traveller”, in J. [K.] M. Shirazi [et al.], transl., Creatures that Once were Men […], New York, N.Y.: Boni...
- From the foldings of its robe, it [the Ghost of Christmas Present] brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […]...
- So I have withdrawn, like a bad little boy, to conceal myself, out of spite, in one of the wretchedest villages in Saxony.1865, Thomas Carlyle, “Battle of Torgau”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume VI, London: Chapman...
- […] Simonov would size me up, and despise me for my wretched vanity and want of spirit; […]1913, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Letters from the Underworld: Part II: Apropos of the Falling Sleet”, in C[harles] J[ames] Hogarth, transl....
Synonyms of wretched
- dejected
- atrabiliary
- atrabilious
- deplorable
- depressing
- distressing
- grievous
- heartbreaking
- heartrending
- lamentable
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of wretched
| comparative | more wretched |
|---|---|
| superlative | most wretched |
Origin of wretched
From Middle English wrecched (“(adjective) characterized by or suffering hardship or misfortune, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy; indigent, poor; of low economic or social status, lowly; (noun) miserable person”) [and other forms], from wrecche (“characterized by or suffering hardship or misfortune, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy; indigent, poor; of low economic or social status, lowly; base, contemptible, vile; reprehensible, wicked; miserly, stingy; of little importance, paltry, worthless”) (from Late Old English wrecc, from Old English wreċċa (“an exile, outcast”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“to follow, track; to hunt”)) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is analysable as wretch (“(obsolete) wretched”, adjective) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives).
Words formed from wretched
Questions about wretched
- What does wretched mean?
- Wretched means characterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable.
- What is wretched in Hindi?
- Wretched in Hindi is अभागा (abhāgā), निगोड़ा (nigoṛā), कमबख़्त (kambaxt). See Wretched meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use wretched in a sentence?
- As for me, I felt wretched and helpless, in the darkness, surrounded with angry waves, whose noise deafened me.
- What part of speech is wretched?
- Wretched is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce wretched?
- Wretched is pronounced /ˈɹɛt͡ʃɪd/ (UK).
Words near wretched in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: wretched (page history and authors); wretched (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); wretched (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); wretched (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); تتڑی (Punjabi) (page history and authors); wretched (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-wretched.ogg.
Cite this entry: “wretched.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wretched. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.